MARSHALL ISLANDS

Republic of the Marshall Islands

COUNTRY OVERVIEW

LOCATION AND SIZE.

The Marshall Islands are located in the North Pacific Ocean some 4,000
kilometers (2,486 miles) northeast of Australia. They consist of 2
groups of small islands, atolls (coral islands), and reefs running from
the northwest to the southeast. The more easterly of these is the Ratak
Chain, the more westerly, the Ralik Chain. It is estimated that there
are 1,152 islands and 30 atolls, but only 4 islands and 19 atolls are
inhabited. With terrains of coral, limestone, and sand, none of the
islands have any high ground, and the most elevated location of the
islands is 10 meters (33 feet). The total land area is 181 square
kilometers (70 square miles), and about 60 percent is taken up by crops.
There are phosphate deposits and the possibility of minerals in the
seabed within the 200 nautical mile economic zone claimed by the
Marshall Islands. The capital is Majuro, which is located on an atoll of
the same name.

The Marshall Islands are located within the tropics, and the weather is
generally hot and very humid. Temperatures average around 27°C
(81°F), and vary little during the year. There is a rainy season
from May to November, with annual rainfall of about 4,000 millimeters
(157 inches), but the sandy terrain means that little water is
collected, and the shortage of drinking water is a continual problem.
The islands are occasionally hit by typhoons.

POPULATION.

The population was estimated at 68,126 in 2000, giving a population
density of 375 persons per square kilometer (971 per square mile), quite
a bit higher than in neighboring island states in the Pacific. The
population was estimated to be growing at 3.9 percent a year in 2000,
which is considered a very rapid rate. The birth rate was 45 births per
1,000 population, and the death rate was 6 persons per 1,000. The
figures indicate negligible migration, but the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) has indicated that there is in fact significant out-migration
to the United States. The average fertility rate is 6.6 children per
woman. With such a rapid rate of growth, the population can be expected
to have a young age structure. The 0-14 age group contains 50 percent of
the population, the 15-64 group contains 48 percent, while only 2
percent are 65 and over. Slightly more than half of the population lives
on Majuro Atoll, and a further 20 percent live on Kwajalein. The urban
population is about 70 percent of the total.

Almost all of the people on the Marshall Islands belong to the
Micronesian ethnic group and follow the Christian religion. Most are
Protestant, although there are some Catholics and small communities of
Seventh-Day Adventists, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Bahai.
English is the official language and is spoken by everyone. Two local
Malayo-Polynesian dialects are in use as local languages, and they are
used in parliament and for some radio broadcasts. Overall life
expectancy is 66 years, with a 64-year expectancy for males and a
67-year expectancy for females. The adult literacy rate was 93 percent
in 1980, with practically all adult males and 88 percent of females
being literate.

BANKING AND FINANCES.

The banking sector includes 2 U.S. commercial banks, the domestic Bank
of the Marshall Islands, and the Marshall Islands Development Bank. Most
lending consists of consumer loans for construction, travel, and
education. The lack of private titles to land or a land market makes
lending to the agriculture sector difficult.

TOURISM.

Tourism offers some prospects for expansion. In 1997, there were 6,000
arrivals in the islands, but less than 1,000 were tourists; the rest
were on business or in transit. There are presently less than 200 hotel
beds, although a new government-owned hotel of 150 beds is under
construction. In 1997, tourism is estimated to have earned $3 million
for the Marshall Islands. Visitors are presently deterred by the lack of
facilities (particularly outside Majuro), the relatively high cost of
transportation to the islands, the radiation contamination of some of
the atolls by nuclear testing, and the current program of weapons
testing on Kwajalein. It is thought, however, that the islands have some
possibilities in establishing a specialty market in tourism, based on
sport fishing, diving and snorkeling, gambling (approved in 1996), and
the general tropical attractions of the islands.